“Get a good night’s sleep” — we’ve all heard it, maybe even said it. But anyone who’s tossed and turned knows that those words are easier said than done.

Sleep isn’t always satisfying. And a lack of sleep can be very frustrating, even dangerous. So when should we take a closer look at our sleep patterns? And how do we know which behaviors are detrimental to our health?

Dr. Ajay Pillai, medical director of Mercy Suburban Hospital Sleep Disorders Center in East Norriton, said, “If you find that you’re not functioning as well during the day as you used to, that could be a reason to look into whether your sleep is adequate or not and to make sure the quality of sleep you get is enough.“I see a lot of patients who complain of being tired and sleepy during the day, and we go over how much time they sleep …, to find out that they don’t give themselves much time in bed. They only rely on five to six hours of sleep at night, and then they wonder why they’re tired during the day.

“The commonest reason for someone in our society being tired during the day is inadequate sleep.”

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Dr. Pillai went on to discuss different kinds of sleep orders and pointed out some of the “red flags that should make you wonder if the kind of sleep you’re getting is OK.

“A big portion of the population does some kind of shift work,” he said, adding that adjusting to rotating shifts and sleeping during the day when it’s brighter, noisier, can lead to shift work sleep disorder.

“If family members say you snore and your breathing doesn’t seem right during sleeping,” Dr. Pillai said, “or you tend to move your legs a lot during sleep … you may need to have a sleep evaluation.”

Sleep apnea symptoms include snoring, nocturnal choking episodes, morning headaches, non-refreshing sleep and excessive daytime drowsiness. A medical condition called restless leg syndrome is described as having an urge to move the legs in order to stop unpleasant sensations.

Types of sleep phase disorder are common in teenagers and the elderly, Dr. Pillai said, adding that both are causes of excessive sleepiness at inappropriate times of the day. “There are things one can do to help with that,” he said. “There are ways to re-train the body to help get more regular sleep.”

A sleep disorder that often goes undiagnosed in adults, despite its ability to hurt their quality of life, according to Dr. Pillai, is narcolepsy. “More severe (cases) tend to present themselves at a younger age and are typically diagnosed by the pediatrician. If you haven’t been diagnosed as an adult, you have to (undergo) special testing. It’s not an easy diagnosis to make.”

Those who have difficulty focusing during the day or persistent, unexplained sleepiness should be evaluated, Dr. Pillai said, adding that “people tend to blame (symptoms) on other factors” and chalk it up to something else altogether.

Insomnia, or difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or both, is one of the most common complaints Dr. Pillai receives, he said. “Most of us have had some type of insomnia at some point in life, and it’s usually related to some type of stressful event.

“It typically tends to be short-lived — it might last for a few days and then go away — but sometimes that can lead to a bad sort of sleep habit pattern. People might get used to taking sleeping aids or start drinking alcohol at night to help them sleep. Some might feel, ‘I haven’t slept enough,’ and get in the habit of staying in bed longer and longer, trying to get more rest. What could have been just a short phase of insomnia turns into a more chronic phase.

“In the short term, it’s not unusual,” Dr. Pillai said. “You just have to understand and accept that it’s part of the process you’re going through.” Chronic cases, he said, can be treated.

“There are different kinds of insomnia, but the classic insomniac is one who’s a very Type A person, who’s constantly planning and worrying … thinking about the next day, running through lists in their mind. In our programs that are often run by psychologists, there are behavioral therapies designed for patients with insomnia who have problems relaxing.”

Dr. Pillai warned against taking sleeping pills, especially over-the-counter, because even those that are FDA-approved can cause many side effects, he said. “Medication should be a last resort and should be prescribed and taken carefully as recommended.”

Those who have trouble sleeping should avoid exercising later in the day and drinking caffeine after 2 p.m., Dr. Pillai recommended. “A lot of people drink too much coffee anyway, some late in the day, and taking just a single cup of coffee in the morning has been shown to make it a little harder to fall asleep at night.”

Another tip for curbing insomnia is to keep digital clocks “away from your line of sight so you’re not getting worked up thinking about how much time you have left to sleep,” Dr. Pillai suggested.

And while some may think that heading to bed early can never be a bad thing, Dr. Pillai explained how it can.

“If you have trouble falling asleep, the last thing you want to do is go to bed before you’re really sleepy. If you lie in bed before you’re really sleepy, you tend to doze (into a light sleep), and you get sleep but not the deep, restful kind.”

Avoid stimulation by bright lights or television, Dr. Pillai said. “Read something light and then when you’re sleepy, go to bed. It might be midnight or later until you’re in that position, but you’re more likely to go into a deeper sleep more quickly.

“As an adult, only about 20 percent of your sleep is the deep, restful, refreshing kind,” he said, “and in order to get into that phase of sleep, you have to be really tired.”

As for sleep positions, Dr. Pillai said, “It’s true that neck and back pain may be helped by sleeping on your back, using the right-sized pillow …, but sleep apnea is often worse on one’s back.

“No one position is ideal for anyone,” he said. “You’re going to sleep the way you feel comfortable, and it’s hard to force your body to do something while you’re (sleeping). To lie in any one position for too long is not that comfortable anyway — that’s the reason we change positions during our sleep.”

Something we can control, however, is the quality of our mattress. “You do want to invest in a good mattress, there’s no doubt about that, because the cheaper ones don’t last as long,” Dr. Pillai said. “And since we spend about a third of our lives in bed, I think it’s worth investing in a good mattress — especially if you’re prone to back aches and neck pains. You want to give yourself the best chance you can to get a good night’s sleep.”

Otherwise healthy people who suffer from inadequate sleep are susceptible to a range of health problems. There’s a “natural tendency to eat the wrong foods and eat obsessively,” Dr. Pillai said. “(Lack of sleep) may affect your mood — a person who’s experienced a year-long battle with insomnia (faces) depression about 80 percent of the time. There’s a significant risk of accidents during the day at work — it’s estimated that there are about 200,000 motor vehicle accidents a year at least related to sleepy drivers.”

For someone with sleep apnea, “the chance of having a heart attack or stroke is three to four times higher than someone who doesn’t have it. (Sleep apnea) affects blood pressure, blood sugar control, hormones, sex drive, mood, relationships — there are a lot of physiological effects.

“Sleep apnea is a very common problem, and when you look at people with heart disease, diabetes, a kidney problem, the chance of such a person having sleep apnea is about 50 percent,” Dr. Pillai said.

“It’s important for people to realize that sleep is extremely important, and if you’re sleeping poorly, the chance of having a bad health outcome is much higher than the average population.”

The 2,600 square-foot Sleep Disorders Center features bedroom-style amenities and is located on the third floor of Mercy Suburban Hospital’s Medical Arts Pavilion, at 2701 DeKalb Pike in East Norriton.

For more information or to schedule a sleep study, call 610-278-2828. Online: www.mercyhealth.org.